Change of Scenery

Recently I have been trying to keep things updated on two blogs and one website. I have not done a good job of any of it simply because it takes so much time. Consequently, I am making a change.

I am consolidating everything on one site - my Wordpress site.

http://www.normmacdonald.wordpress.com/

I have just finished updating the Wordpress blog with articles, poems, web links, and the like. The articles and poems are on page two...there is a link for that page on the right hand column. I have also added some great web links...Woot, Giveaway of the Day, Lee Park Baptist Church, and the prayer request site for Lee Park called Prayer Workz (somebody already had "Works").

It is my hope that you will join me there and of course, tell your friends. :)

God Bless.

http://www.normmacdonald.wordpress.com/

Orthodoxy

When some one uses the phrase, "It's like herding a bunch of cats," there is little doubt that what they are talking about is chaos. Orthodoxy is somewhat like that - herding cats, that is.

Orthodoxy is, by its very nature, orthodox. That is, conforming to a set of beliefs, uniform standards or established conventions. When some one is described as "unorthodox" it simply means they are not conforming to what is expected.

Orthodoxy is often translated beyond beliefs into the area of behavior. For the fact of the matter, they are combined to a large degree - one's belief determines their behavior. Also, one's behavior is indicative of their belief system. The problem is with the former set-up, belief determining behavior.

In Luke's gospel, John the Baptist was having a struggle with orthodoxy. The "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," was not conforming to expectations. Consequently, he sends some of his disciples (John himself was in prison) to ask Jesus, "Are you really the one we have been expecting, because you sure don't act like it (loose paraphrase on my part)." Not only was Jesus not conforming to the religious leader's expectations of the Messiah, he was throwing John a curve ball that he was not ready to catch.

Orthodoxy often breeds complacency or a false confidence. Then, when some one breaches the walls of our traditional belief system, we wonder "How can this be? This is not at all what I was expecting."

Jesus tells the disciples of John to go back and tell him, "I am doing exactly what the prophet Isaiah proclaimed the messiah would do. It may not be what you or these other people expected, but it is what the gospel of the Kingdom is all about (again a loose paraphrase)."

For me at least, it seems the lesson from all of this is relatively clear. The Word of God should dictate my belief system - orthodoxy. My belief system should not dictate how I interpret the Word of God.  I find that I must constantly remind myself of this as I read scripture. I must allow it to speak to me based on its very nature as the Word of God. Then it is important that I adjust my belief system to what it says. Not what I want it to say or think it should say.

A hard lesson, but one I am learning.

Just Say the Word!

Growing up, when those who were my senior, or my parents, or a person I worked for said, "Do this" - I did it. No questions asked, I just did it. Now days that is not usually the case, either for me, or for others, even kids. Everybody what's to know "why," or what's in it for me if I do that thing. Or, they simply say, "no."  I expect the only place that is different is in the military. From what I understand, you question an order in the field and it could cost you or someone else their life.

In Matthew 8 and Luke 7, there are stories of a centurion and his slave. Each gospel writer has varying details to the story, but for the most part the stories seem to reflect the same incident.

Each story stresses the centurion's words that he is "not worthy" for Jesus to come to his house for the healing. Just like any good military man, if he said to his troops "Go," they went. Consequently he felt it was sufficient that if Jesus simply said the word, his servant would be healed.

In Luke's account, the writer goes to some length to justify the worthiness of the centurion by having the elders of the Jews say, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue (v. 4-5)."  Jesus does not even give this justification credence by responding to it. What he responds to is the centurions expression of faith - "say the word" and it will be so.

Jesus "marveled at him" not because the centurion's servant "was highly valued," not because the elders of the Jews said the centurion was worthy, not because he helped build a synagogue, Jesus marveled at him because of his expression of faith - say the word and I believe it will be done.

I don't know about you, but I'm a justifier. Somehow it seems I must justify to God why He might want to do something for me or someone else. And often I have a long list of justifiers. The reality of it is, those justifiers simply expose my pitiful faith. There are times when the simplest and best thing to do is come before God and ask that He just "say the word" believing that what we ask will be done.

Builders for Life

When was the last time you built an 8 million dollar home?  When was the last time you built an 8 million dollar home and found it to be uninhabitable because of shoddy workmanship?

That is exactly what happened to actress Sandra Bullock and her new dream home in Austin, TX.  After years of waiting and just a few nights in the home, she has moved out and sued the builders for shoddy work. She plans to demolish the house and start over. 

Reading that account reminded me of a story I had come across years ago. A major contractor was taking an extended trip to Europe. He gave his foreman a million dollars to build a house. One of the conditions of building the house, was that whatever savings the foreman could accrue in the construction would be his. Well, the foreman skimped in many areas of the construction and saved almost half the amount he had been allotted.  When the owner of the company returned from Europe, he looked over the house and received the foreman's report.  The foreman was quite proud of how well he had done, not actually telling the owner about the quality of materials - or lack there of - used in building the house.

When the tour was finished, the owner was true to his word, but instead of writing the foreman a check for what he had saved, he simply handed him the key and said, "Here, the house is yours."

At the closing of Jesus' sermon on the mount, he said that those who hear his words and fail to incorporate them in their life will be like someone building a shoddy house with an unstable foundation. Those people who hear AND do what he has been teaching will be like the one who builds their house on a solid, unmovable foundation.

Make no mistake, we are builders. Each one who claims the name of Christ is a builder - a builder for life. As such, we either hear and not do, or hear and do. We can skimp or we can give our very best. Either way, one day, Jesus is going to hand us the key and say, "Here, the house is yours!"

     "Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
     But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."  (Luke 6:46-49 ESV)

Sometimes You Just Shouldn't

There are certain days of my work week when I do mostly reading. I have never been a voracious reader. As a kid, reading ranked right up there with eating peas. My seminary days probably marked my most extensive excursion into the printed page.  Anyway, in my present situation, I do - what is for me - a good deal of reading.

What I am learning is this--- sometimes you shouldn't! Sometimes too much reading is dangerous and depressing. It can squelch the spirit and stifle one's enthusiasm. Here are just a few examples:

• Presidential candidate Obama probably redefines the word liberal and people are totally unaware. His stance on abortion is beyond liberal. His position toward the gay and lesbian rights will push this country to normalize that behavior and his position on Federal funding for faith-based community programs is conditioned on hiring without regard to religious beliefs, sexual identity and orientation.  (Dobson & Mohler comments, BPNews On-Line Newsletter 7/21 ; "Soul Searching", World Magazine, July 26/August 2, 2008, 38)
• Medical doctor leaves a six figure job to devote himself full-time, not to missions, or helping poor communities with healthcare, but to pursue blogging full time - another six figure job. (Yahoo.Com, macrumors, 7/21)
• A transgender Oregon woman - living as a man gives birth and claims that doing so "doesn't make (him) less of a man." (World, ibid, 11)
• Sarah and Jacob lie and poor old and blind Abraham has no clue he is being duped.  (Genesis 27)
• Finding one's writing style and realizing that getting your work in print is more than an uphill battle and can take years and years of perseverance. (Ethel Herr, An Introduction to Christian Writing, (Highland Books, Godalming, Surrey and Write Now Publishing, Phoenix, AZ, 1999) 150-173

Well, I suspect there is no sense in spoiling your day. So I gather you get the idea. Sometimes you just shouldn't!

Then again, there are glorious days when reading can make my spirit soar and lift my heart to unimaginable heights. Many of those days are spent among the same pages where the "liars" live. For grace often abounds with just the flip of a page.

I like those days. 

Scan Is Complete

When I replaced my old laptop, it took several days for me to get the new one set up.

One of the programs that came pre-installed with the new laptop was a trial version of Norton 360 Security Suite, a program that monitors for viruses, blocks spam mail and looks for spyware intrusions. I have had these programs before and often had my work interrupted while it did its work. I like this one because it does all its work in the background. It basically runs unnoticed until a pop-up messages tells me that the "scan is complete."

The program runs on a regular basis and the intent is to keep  my computer safe from intruders, whether the malicious kind or merely the annoying kind. When it finds anything, it gives me options to keep what it finds, quarantine, or delete them.

When the message "scan is complete" popped up this morning, I thought, "The Holy Spirit scans my life regularly and lists those things that are harmful to my soul. Areas that still need a good deal of work and attention - harmful things that I could place in quarantine, or simply delete before they cause harm."  But am I paying attention?

Yes, I am convicted, from time to time, of areas that are not pleasing to the Lord. Nevertheless, I suspect there are many more areas that lay hidden in the background, running silently, like a malicious virus, waiting to destroy or distort the longings of my heart. For all intents and purposes I am unaware of their presence and seldom feel their impact until it is too late.

Each day, it is important that I open my heart to the Holy Spirit and ask the LORD to scan every part of my being. As the Psalmist said,

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!  (Psalm 139:23-24)

Then, once God shows me where the problems are, it is imperative that I take care of them. Not doing so could cause serious problems down the road and impact my testimony for Christ.

Watch Out Here Come The Words!

Blogs are a unique venue. Anyone can write one and random people from anywhere in the world can read them once they stumble across them. They provide an avenue for releasing one's thoughts on the general public for a variety of reasons. Political blogs can pound politicians. Personal blogs can expose more person than one cares to see or hear. Religious blogs can take people down paths that only the unintelligent might follow. There are blogs for photography, music, writing, Information Technology, children's issues, and marriage issues. You name the topic, wholesome or not, and chances are there is a blog that speaks to that issue.

Everyone hopes that others will read their blog. Some may even expect to become "well-known" because of their blog. However, most bloggers are simply using a specific forum to express themselves.

The thing about blogs is that they provide a clean slate on which to put words. Words are powerful things whether written on a blog or spoken to another person. They can encourage and heal, they can discourage and wound. At times either of those intents can be used by the blogger intentionally or unintentionally.

Basically, in our country and in the blogosphere, we are free to say anything. I am free to say anything. But does that mean I should?

Yesterday, while at the doctor's office, I noticed they had a picture of Laura and President Bush hanging on one of the file cabinets. Someone had taken a marker and drawn devil like attributes on the President's face.  My comment to the nurse was this, "There are some countries where you would be shot for doing that." Her response was, "They must not be free countries."  "You are right," I said and then continued, "Just because we are free to do something does not mean we should. He is still the President of the United States and we ought to respect that."

I am learning that blogs are the same way. Just because we can write something does not mean that we should. The writer of Proverbs says it this way:

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent.  (17:27-28)

Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?